Sheet piler



Oct. 15, 1935. J, E. GRAF Er Ar. 2,017,044

SHEET PILER Filed June 25, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 [Qwedoms:

oct. 15, 1935. E GRAF Er AL 2,017,044

SHEET PILER 'Filed June 25, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 15, 1935.

J. E. GRAF ET AL 2,017,044

SHEET PILER Filed June 25, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 ZW W Oct. l5. 1935. J.E. GRAF Er ALy SHEET PILER lwezos:

. GEF/F and Oct. 1.5, 1935. 1 E. GRAF E1- AL 2,017,044

SHEET PILER Filed June 25, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 figa Patented Oct. 15,1935 PATENT oFr-icE SHEET PILEB Julius E. Gru, Avalon, and william A.

Marshall,

Sharon, Pa., asaimors to American Sheet and Tin Plate Company, acorporation of New Jersey Application :une z5, 1932, serial No. 619,324

12 Claims.

This invention relates to sheet pilers and particularly to those havinga support which receives the sheets and descends as the pile increases.These have not been generally satisfactory when handling metal sheetsbecause the increment of weight of the adding load results in averyirregular descent, one 'of the objects of the present invention being toimprove the operation of such pilers in this respect. An-

other object is to pile sheets or plates so as to enable easy inspectionof the top ones at all times. Other objects may be inferred from thefollowing disclosure of one specific form of the invention, which isparticularly intended for use at the delivery of a tin plate cleaningand polishing machine.

The accompanying drawings illustrate this specific form as follows:

Figure 1 is a front elevation.

Figure 2 is a cross-section from the line II--II in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an end elevation. Figure 4is a detail of the brakingmechanism.

Figure 5 is a side view of an inching switch controlling the mechanismshown in Figure 4.

Figure 6 is an end view of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a wiring diagram.

Figure 8 is a vertical longitudinal cross-section of a power device formoving the piled sheets from "the piler.

Figure 9 is a top plan of Figure 8 showing the various powerconnections, and

Figure 10 is an end elevation of Figure 8.

This piler isl constructed for use with a double plate cleaning andpolishing machine and comprises duplicate co-related units. Eachconsists ofl a pair ofl vertical channel bars I having their open facesmutually opposed to form a vertical guideway. Parallel horizontal shafts2 and 3 arecarried on plates 4 arranged to run vertically in thesechannel bars on wheels 5 fixed on the shafts. 'Ihe upper shaft 2 carrieshorizontal arms 6 which have depending ends 'l contacting the shaft 3.vThese armsform the descending pile support which receives the tin platefrom the delivery rolls 8 of a cleaning and polishing machine 9.' I

This support is controlled by cables I0 which are wound on drums IIpassing down beneath the shaft 3 and are fixed through the medium of anadjustable rod I2 to brackets I3 fixed to and near thetops of the endplates 4. The' driving shaft I4 is journaled near the tops ofthechannels but out of the path'of the rollers 5, it being possible toraise the support above this shaft because the cables I0 will be liftingfrom the axis of the shaft 3. Rotation o1' the shaft I4 is controlled asfollows.

'Ihe shaft I4 carries a gear I5 on its outer end, which is meshed with apinion I6 xed on a 6 shaft I'I. This shaft has a squared end, so a crankmay be applied to manually raise the support, and turns a ratchet wheelI8 which drives a gear I9 through a pawl 20. This ratchet and ypawldrive is arranged so that when the shaft 10 I1 is turned in supportraising direction the gear I9 will be free, and when the shaft turns indescending direction the gear I9 is driven. The gear I 9 is meshed witha pinion 2| xed on a shaft 22.

Rotation of the shaft 22 is controlled by an electromagnetic brake 23.'Ihis brake is controlled by an electromagnet 23B and is novel inthatits operating armature 24, which is normally urged by a spring 24a toapply pressure to the 20 band 24", carries an arm 25 which strikes alever 26 the moment the brake is released by energization of the magnet.The illustrated braking mechanism is purely diagrammatical and may besubstituted by the conventional commercial 26 product. The lever .26 isreally a switch and carries a contact 21 which rises from a contact 28.These contacts 21 and 28 are connected in series with the solenoid ofthe brake'so that as soon as the brake .is released its circuit will 30be broken and it will immediately reapply brak ing i'orce to the shaft22. The lever 26 and the two contactsl are carried on a bracket 29 whichmay be raised and lowered by a screw 30. This last enables someadjustment of the brake re- 35 leasing period. This brake constructionis pro- I vided to prevent release ofthe shaft 22 except for a veryshort period or periods.

The above brake construction is important because it prevents the freedrop of the load through 40 any great distance. Therefore, when thesupport is heavily loaded it will be impossible for it to drop adistance suflicient to produce a velocity factor where kinetic energyresultsr which the brake 23 cannot control. On the other hand, 45 whenthe support is but lightly loaded the drop is still free and permitsproper descent. Of course, it may be necessary to energize the brake 23several times when the support is only lightly loaded to produce thelsame result which one 50 energizing may produce when it is heavilyloaded. Energizing as here used is intended to mean a single impulse tothe solenoid of the electromagnet which, as stated, is very shortly orpractically immediately broken by separation of the 5B contacts 21 and28. It is believed that this method of controlling the descent of aloading piler by means of a series of very short unit distance drops orjerks is new, that is, the control of the velocities of the descendingload to factors preventing excessive energy.

The channels I support horizontal bars Il which may adiustably carryside and front guides 32 and 33 and a catcher 34 which may be swung downto receive the sheets being delivered from the cleaning machine when theload on the support is being removed. This catcher is a pair of Y-shapedarms mounted on a shaft 35 whose rotation is controlled by a small handcatch 3S. It is to be noted that the front guide 33 depends directlyfrom the catcher 34 so that when the latter is swung horizontally theguide will be swung out of the way and permit removal of the piledsheets.

Oneof the side plates 32 of each unit carries an inching switch 31constructed to close the circuit to the solenoid of the electromagnet 23each time the sheet pile rises. Preferably, this switch consists of aswinging non-magnetic bracket 38 which carries a solenoid 39 and amercury switch 40. This mercury switchis the one controlling theelectromagnet. 'I'he solenoid 39 is arranged to create a flux paththrough pole pieces 4 I whose faces oppose the sheet pile. When thispile is below these pole pieces their ilux path is open and the bracket28 swings so that broken and the bracket 38 swings to switch-openingposition.

The arms 6, which constitute the sheet pile support, are arranged sothat when in their lowermost position they straddle a raised platform 42'on a buggy 43. This platform then receives the weight of the pile andthe buggy 43 may be rolled away from the piler. The arms of a lifttypetractor may then be run under the platform 42 and it and the pilecarried to its destination. Another platform is then substituted for theone removed and the buggy-43 back into the piler. During this operationthe c tcher 34 is utilized to catch the tin plate which may nowA beremoved manually and placed on the top of the new pile. Also, duringthis time the shaft i1 was manually rotated so that the arms 0 wereraised to their uppermost position so that the pile could be started.'Ihese arms may, of course, be raised, while the buggy 43 is still awayfrom the piler awaiting the arrival ofthe tractor,`

necessary to operate the electromagnetic brake. In addition. a limitswitch 44 il supplied to break the circuit to the brake, this beingarranged in the path of the pile support to prevent its descent beyondthe point where its load is depositl edonthebusgy. Theswitchesl and44andthe contacts 2l and 28 are all in series with the magnet 23'* of thebrake 23.

If desired, power apparatus may be provided to roll the buggy 4I awayfrom the piler. For lo instance, a cylinder 4| may be nxed to the pilerbeneath the buggy. This cylinder contains a plunger 4`| fixed to aconnecting rod 4l which passes through a stuffing box4l in the front endof the cylinder. This connecting rod is mountis ed to a carriage l0which runs on ,the floor and carries a cross-head il. This cross-head isremovably fixed to the carriage by a pin I2 and has hooked ends lt.Thebuggy is provided with depending arms 54 which are-journaled to swing2o outwardly on shafts l5 and positioned for engagement by the hookedends of the cross-head.

Air is supplied to both ends of the cylinder by means of a four-wayvalve and suitable connecting pipes. 'Ihe pipeA connecting the valvez tothe front end of the cylinder is provided with iiow restricting valvesil and "e, the latter valve being arranged Ito exhaust directly to theat-y mosphere. In operation, the valve Il is first turned to admit airto the front end of the cylinder. It is then turned to admit air to therear end of the cylinder, and the cross-head Il moves the buggy. Becauseof the air compressed in the front end of the cylinder, which mustexhaust slowly through the valves Il and Il., rapid acceleration isprevented. When the plunger 4l reaches the end of its stroke the valve uis again turned to admit air to the front end of the cylinder so thatthe` plunger 41 returns to its original position, the inclined locks ofthe hooked 4o 4 ends 53 forcing the rear pair of depending arms 54outwardly and allowing them to gravitaliy drop inwardly for engagement.The four-way valve 56 is again turned to admit air to the rear end ofthe cylinder 40, and the buggy is rolled 45 entirely clear from thepiler. After the buggy is relieved of the pile the cross-head Il isremoved from its carriage and replaced in Aa reverse position. 'I'hen byproper reverse manipulation of the valve 58 the buggy can be rolled backto its 50 pile receiving position. l

Although a specific form ofthis piler has been shown and described inaccordance with the patent statutes, it is not intended to limit thescope of the invention exactly thereto, except as de- 85.

ilned by the following claims.

rWe claim:

1. A sheet piler including a descending pile support, releasable meansarranged to control the descent of said support, a solenoid'arranged 00to release said means, and contacts constructed and arranged in serieswith said solenoid's energizing circuit and to separate when said means-is released.

vertical channel bars, a pile support including horizontal roller-endedshafts running in said channel bars and respectively positioned bysupporting plates and having horizontal arms extending from the upperone of these shafts, drums arranged adjacent the top of said channelbars, cables wound on said drums and liftingly connected to said pilesupport at points beneath said upper shaft thereof, means for turningsaid drums in support raising direction, means for braking or allowingsaid drums to intermittently turn in support lowering direction, andmeans for causing said last named'means to allow said turning movementwhen the pile on said support rises above a predetermined level.

4. A sheet piler including a catcher for holding sheets while the pileris being unloaded, said catcher comprising vertically swinging allnedY-shaped arms opening toward the delivering direction of the sheetsbeing piled. and releasable means for holding said arms in horizontal orvertical positions.

5. A sheet piler including lateral guides, an end guide and a sheetcatcher, said catcher including vertically swinging alined Y-shaped armsopening towards the delivering direction of the sheets being piled andsaid guide being carried by said catcher in alinement therewith.

6. A steel sheet piler including a gravity operated descending pilesupport, an electromagnetically operated brake arranged to control thedescent of said support and a switch arranged to control said brake,said switch including means for creating a magnetic lux path at apodtion where the edges of sheets on said support are in the same andmeans for electing its operation by an increase or decrease in thedensity of said lux path caused by the number of said sheets.

'1. A steel sheet piler including a gravity operated descending pilesupport, an electromagnetically operated brake arranged to control thedescent of said support and a switch arranged to control said brake.said switch including means for creating a magnetic lux path at aposition where the edges of sheets on said support are in the same andmeans for electing its operationbyanincreaseordecreaseinthedensityofsaid 4ilux path caused by the numberof said sheets.

and said brake being associated with means for limiting its operation toa series of momentary releasals regardless of the controlling operationof said switch.

8. A steeLsheet piler including a pile support.

means for guiding moving-sheets to said support. said support and saidmeans being relatively' movable so that the latter may guide sheets tothe top of an increasing pile of the same on the vfox-mer. means forelecting relative movement betweensaidsupportaudtheilrstnan'lcdmeansyand a switch for controlling the second named means, said switchincluding means for creating a magnetic iiux path at a position wherethe edges of sheets on said support are in the same and means forelecting its operation'by an in- 5 crease or decrease in the density ofsaid ilux path caused by the number of sheets in the same.

9. A sheetpiler including a sheet-pile support, means for mounting saidsupport for free descent, a brake for restraining descent of said 1osupport, said brake being releasable so that said support can descendthrough distances sumcient to accommodate increases in the height of asheet-pile thereon, and means for retarding the otherwise free descentof said support through l5 said distances.

l0. A sheet pilerv including a sheet-pile support, means for mountingsaid support for free descent, a brake for restraining descent of saidsupport, means automatically responsive to in- 20 creases in the heightof a sheet-pile on said support for electing releasals of said brake sothat said support can progressively descend through distances sulicientto accommodate said increases and means for retarding the otherwise 25free descent of said support through said distances, the third namedmeans functioning independently ofthe second named means' responses tosaid increases.

il. -A sheet piler including a sheet-pile support. means for mountingsaid support for free descent, a brake for restraining descent o! saidsupport, means automatically responsive only to increases in the heightof a sheet-pile on said support which are equal to the thickness of aplurality of the sheets, for electing releasals of said brake so thatsaid support can progressively descend through distances approximatelyequaling said increases and means functioning independently of thesecond named means responses to said increases for retarding theotherwise free descent of said support through said distances.

l2. A sheet piler including a sheet-pile support, means for mountingsaid support for free descent, a brake for restraining descent of saidsupport, means automatically responsive only to increases in the heightof a sheet-pile on said support which are equal to the thickness of aplurality of the sheets, for electing releasals of said brake so thatsaid support can progressively descend through distances approximatelyequal-l ing said increases and means functioning independently of thesecond named means responses to said increases for electing quicklyrepeated reapplications and releasals of said brake during Il theotherwise free descent of said support through said distances.

JULIUS E. GRAF. WILLIAM A. MARSHALL.

